


Strings of the Past

by chrysozonite



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Not Beta Read, timeline most likely after athletics but before the main story in es!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:41:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25692232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chrysozonite/pseuds/chrysozonite
Summary: Koga finds himself immersed in looking at an old photobook, Leon’s snores filling the room as he reminiscences about the past.He’s not the type of guy who always does this, no. People even say that he has the talent to stay anchored in the present, shift his focus on the things happening now other than the things that already happened before. Some even mentioned that it is the reason why they give him credit because of Rei Sakuma’s so-called rebirth, his resurrection. Koga.. thinks otherwise, but keeps his thoughts to himself.
Relationships: Oogami Kouga/Sakuma Rei
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	Strings of the Past

Koga finds himself immersed in looking at an old photobook, Leon’s snores filling the room as he reminiscences about the past. 

He’s not the type of guy who always does this, no. People even say that he has the talent to stay anchored in the present, shift his focus on the things happening now other than the things that already happened before. Some even mentioned that it is the reason why they give him credit because of Rei Sakuma’s so-called rebirth, his resurrection. Koga.. thinks otherwise, but keeps his thoughts to himself.

Besides, it’s his last day at this apartment. He’s moving to the Ensemble Square dormitories first thing tomorrow morning. There’s nothing much left in this unit except for the school uniform he’ll wear the day after, his and Leon’s futon, and a few miscellaneous things that didn’t fit inside the moving truck. 

He thinks that he at least deserves to think about the things that happened before he moves forward to another year tomorrow.

His ears catch the sudden whimper that came from his companion, removing his eyes from the empty walls that he was staring at to look at him. 

Leon’s eyebrows furrows, the whimpers repeating once again as Koga places the photobook down to focus all his attention on his dog. 

“Leon. Hey, buddy. You alright?” he mutters, hand still stroking his corgi, if not gentler. “Havin’ a bad dream?” He felt Leon shudder, as though answering. 

He immediately reaches out for his guitar, careful not to hit his dog when he places it on his open lap. A few minutes were spent tuning it since it has been over a while since he last played this guitar. It’s something that Koga treasures a lot, and he doesn’t use it as much as possible to preserve the memories that came with that guitar. 

It’s the guitar that Rei gave him, of course. One that he once carried, one that he once hugged while waiting for Rei to come home from abroad. The details are fuzzy, but he could still remember the emotions he felt during those times. 

He remembers being happy, ecstatic even, to finally go to Yumenosaki after spending most of his time saving up just so he could enroll at the same school where his idol attends. Koga can recall how he was so keen to be noticed by Rei that he played guitar every time they encounter themselves in the corridors of the school, and how Keito called him Rei Sakuma’s no. 1 fan and stalker (and how hard he denied it).

Koga could also remember how devastated he felt when he found out that he can’t hang out with his dear senpai for so long even after he began to his presence. How he waited at various places, sometimes holding his guitar, sometimes not, while waiting for him to return to Japan. Rei’s look on his face when he comes home for the last time, finding out that his fellow oddballs have been crushed by Eichi Tenshouin is still clear on his mind. It feels like yesterday when people suddenly avoided Rei, saying that it’s his fault for not looking out for the other oddballs when he was gone. 

It feels like yesterday when Rei started referring Koga as his puppy, and rarely by his true name. A reminder that he never really saw Koga as someone admirable, someone worthy of his attention, but as someone who still needs to do, to sacrifice a lot of things to become the wolf he wanted to be. 

Without knowing it, his fingers started strumming his guitar, playing the piece that he and Rei made before the latter graduated. He hums at the same time as well, although it took him later to realize it. 

Soon Leon’s soft whimpers died down, replaced by him snuggling closer to Koga’s thigh. Even so, Koga didn’t stop playing the guitar, gaze now moved to one part of the room, just near the window where he once put his first Rei Sakuma poster. 

Coincidentally, it is also where Rei stood one time when Koga invited him to his place, both his vampire and grandfather persona dropped and became a person confused about what to do if invited inside the home of an (ex?)fan of his works. The image of an uncomfortable Rei Sakuma still lives in his head, with one hand clutching his elbow and wide eyes darting from Koga, then to Leon, then back to Koga. If his memory is correct, he was setting up a spare futon - this futon, Koga realizes - for Rei to sleep on since he decided to stay after teaching Koga a few tips and tricks in playing the guitar. 

He could also recall that one of them offered that Rei should just sleep on Koga’s bed to lessen the effort exerted since both of them are tired from school and practices, although he couldn’t put the name on which one of them did. Not important now, since Koga had a hard time sleeping that night and joined Rei in his futon some time afterward.

“Am I interrupting something?”

A knock on the door, followed by the creaking sound of it being opened interrupted Koga’s train of thought, his fingers abruptly stopping and places the guitar down. An intruder? That can’t be possible; He always locks the doors before he goes to bed and as far as he knows, the only people in his unit are Leon and him. So who would this person be?

He sniffs the air just in case. Ah, him.

“That sounds like a pretty good song you have there, Wanko.”

“We made it together, Sakuma-senpai. Also, aren’tcha supposed to call me  _ Koga _ from now on?! And you have a flight tomorrow morning. Shouldn’t ya rest?”

“Hush,  _ Koga _ ; you’re going to wake our dear Leon if you keep your voice raised,” says Rei, as if someone like him trespassing a private property won’t raise questions from the owner of said property. He approaches him, sitting beside Koga and carefully placing the sleeping corgi on his lap, all while keeping his actions languid. 

“I called you by your name. Are you happy now, my beloved? ♪”

Koga squints his eyes at him before he gets up and places his guitar in its case, earning a soft  _ noooo…  _ from his senpai that he wished to ignore. He gives Rei another  _ are-you-serious _ look then sighs. “Yes, I am happy now, Sakuma-senpai, but care to tell me why you’re here?” 

With that Rei places his free hand on his chin, thinking perhaps before he leans backward into Koga’s chest, happily snuggling. “Can’t I just come here to hang out with my dear Koga?”

“No.”

“My, my. My Koga’s ruthless as always! But the reason’s still the same, no matter how many times you ask me.” Koga notices Rei close his eyes, his breathing even and hand still brushing Leon’s fur. “I talked to a lot of people for the past few weeks, most of them were interviews about UNDEAD joining one of Ensemble Square’s agencies. Negotiations were not difficult, since we belong to a fairly popular unit, but it’s still tiring… ~” 

“I need someone to keep me grounded for the next few hours before I return to the business part of the adult world. And frankly, your presence soothes me the most, my precious Koga… ♪”

Rei’s repeated movement of caressing the dog’s fur eventually slows down, his intake of breath getting deeper as Koga feels that he’s already falling asleep. He checks Rei’s temperature just in case. Just warm, but in a way that came from the outside heat, not inside, so it’s good. 

He finds his hand starting to fondle Rei’s hair as well, shifting his position so that Rei can snuggle with him more comfortably while both of them are lying down. He can see a faint hint of a smile on his senior’s face when he does so, a soft hum of approval heard from him before he drifts to sleep. 

Koga gives Rei one last touch, trailing his fingers from his cheek to his chin before planting a kiss on the other’s forehead. Leon’s still sleeping soundly between them and (thankfully) not crushed by them both. He can say that he’s glad, at least, that the Rei Sakuma he was fawning over before is now within reach, nestled in his arms. 

**Author's Note:**

> i come back here still without the knowledge on how to properly make titles for my works and wips. 
> 
> anyways..! this started out as some sort of a vent fic or something but eventually. boom. i haven't written anything that screams warm orange/brown for me for a while and this feels really warm for me.
> 
> kudos and comments are still appreciated and thank you so much for taking the time to read this fic


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